1. What is the Community Chest?
A community grant pot supporting community-led creative health ideas across North Somerset.
Projects supported through the Community Chest will align to one or more themes:

• Ageing Well / Dementia

• Work Well (workforce wellbeing)

• Grief & Bereavement

Micro grants will typically be £300–£3,000 per proposal (average around £1,500).

What do the themes mean?
The themes are there to guide ideas, not limit them.
We expect projects to be creative, flexible and rooted in real life, where themes often overlap.
Ageing Well/Dementia: Supporting people to stay connected, active and valued as they age including people living with dementia, their families and carers. This might include reducing isolation, building confidence, or creating intergenerational connections.
Work Well (workforce wellbeing): Supporting people to feel well, connected and supported in their working lives. “Work” is broad including paid work, volunteering, caring roles or people finding their way back into work.
Grief & Bereavement: Creating safe, supportive spaces for people to explore grief, loss and life changes. This includes but is not limited to bereavement, and may involve loneliness, identity, health or wider life transitions.

Important: You do not need to fit neatly into one theme.
We actively encourage:

• ideas that cross themes

• creative approaches

• work that brings different groups together

For example:

• a children’s project working with a care home

• a wellbeing project that includes grief support

If it supports connection, wellbeing and creativity, it likely fits.

2. The role of the 5 Anchors/Hosts
As an Anchor/Host, your organisation will:

• Help people complete an application in a supportive, relational way

• Accept applications in video, audio, recorded verbal, written or supported formats

• Host drop-ins, conversations and outreach to help people shape ideas and apply

• Connect applicants to creatives, partners and community assets

• Help ensure inclusion, safeguarding and access, so the opportunity reaches people who face barriers

• Support applicants across all three themes

• Hold and distribute funding (once awarded through a North Somerset lived experience panel)

• Provide photo and story, evidence of spend and impact

3. What are the benefits of becoming an Anchor Organisation?

• Raise your organisation’s profile across North SomersetPosition your organisation as a recognised leader in community-led health, wellbeing and creative practice.

• Attract and shape new community investmentAs an anchor, you will help direct and unlock community chest funding into your local communities, including opportunities to bring additional Community Fund and partner investment into the work you are already leading.

• Become a trusted local grant-maker and partnerBuild credibility as a go-to organisation for supporting grassroots groups, strengthening relationships across the VCSE sector and with system partners.

• Develop your team’s skills and capacityGain hands-on experience in mentoring, micro-grant delivery, and community-led decision making, with support from the programme.

• Strengthen your impact and evidence baseCapture and demonstrate real community outcomes, helping you to tell a stronger story about your work and influence local and system priorities.

• Be part of a wider movement, not just a projectConnect with other anchor organisations and partners to shape how resources flow differently into communities, shifting power closer to the people.

• Increase your chances of future fundingStrengthen your case for future grants and partnerships by demonstrating delivery, trust, and measurable community impact.

4. What selected Anchors/Hosts will receive

• £1,500 support payment per Anchor/Host organisation be spent on anchor infrastructure around the project

• A shared online overview/briefing session introducing the creative mentoring and support offer from Super culture and Creative Shift

• A clear support package you can describe locally for funded projects, including:

  • An in-person introductory session for funded individuals/groups

  • Online action learning / peer learning sessions aligned to the themes

  • Provide photo and story evaluation focused on learning (no heavy reporting)

5. How the 5 Anchors/Hosts will be selected
Anchors/Hosts will be selected by Mandy Gardner CEO VANS and David Moss, Locality Director, ICB, based on alignment with the Anchor role above.
In particular:

• your reach into communities

• your ability to support accessible applications

• your approach to inclusion, safety and trust

• your capacity to host conversations and outreach

We are looking for trusted organisations with relationships and practical capacity, not perfect bids.

6. Online drop-in (Q&A + walkthrough of the offer)
We will run an online drop-in session for interested organisations to:

• walk through the Anchor role and expectations

• explain the creative/mentoring support offer

• answer questions and support expectations

Date/time: Thursday 28th May 9.30-11.00
Joining details:
Microsoft Teams meeting
Join: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/329866177197486?p=MJY4akhT8Xa6SY9kVF
Meeting ID: 329 866 177 197 486
Passcode: zq9LA7cL

7. How to express interest
Email VANS to request the Expression of Interest questions / submit your Expression of Interest:
Email: info@vansmail.org.uk
EOI deadline: 5pm Friday 5th June 2026
Expected decision date: Week of 8th June 2026

8. What we’ll ask in the EOI (so you can prepare)
To keep this simple, we’ll ask for short responses covering:

• Your organisation, communities and reach

• Your approach to inclusion, access and safe practice

• How you would host drop-ins/outreach and support applications

• Your capacity and who will lead this work

• Any relevant safeguarding considerations

9. Who can apply to be an Anchor/Host?
We are looking for organisations that are part of the VCSE (Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise) sector.
This could include:

• Constituted voluntary or community groups

• Registered charities

• Social enterprises (including CICs)

You do not need to be a CIC specifically, but you must be a VCSE organisation with a clear community focus.

We’re keeping this simple and accessible.

You can express interest in becoming an Anchor/Host by answering a short number of free text response questions and sending your response to info@vansmail.org.uk.

What happens next

1. Expression of Interest submitted

2. Recomended online drop-in (questions and walkthrough of the offer)

3. Shortlisting and review by Mandy Gardner CEO VANS and David Moss, Locality Partnership and funder

4. 5 Anchors/Hosts selected and confirmed

5. Anchor briefing session to set shared expectations and introduce Super Culture team and wrap around offer

What we’re looking for (in simple terms)

We’re not looking for perfect bids.
We’re looking for organisations who:

• are trusted and rooted in communities

• can help people feel confident to take part

• can create safe, welcoming spaces to talk about real life themes

• can support people who might not usually apply for funding

1. About your organisation, communities and reach (Max 250 words)

Tell us about your organisation:

• What you do

• Who you work with and how might you connect to Ageing well, working well, Grief and bereavement.

• The communities or places you are most connected to

We’re particularly interested in your ability to reach:

• people who might not usually access funding

• Lesser heard Communities i.e. communities who face barriers (confidence, language, access, trust, etc.)

2. Inclusion, access and safe practice (Max 200 words)

How do you create spaces that are:

• inclusive

• safe

• welcoming

• respectful of different lived experiences

This might include how you support people to talk about real-life themes such as grief, wellbeing or connection.

(You don’t need formal policies - just how you approach this in practice.)

3. Hosting drop-ins, outreach and supporting applications (Max 200 words)

How would you:

• host conversations, drop-ins or outreach locally

• help people shape ideas and feel confident to take part

• support applications in different formats (talking, recording, writing)

4. Capacity and delivery (Max 150 words)

How would you make this work in practice?

• Who would lead this work

• Who else would be involved

• How you would organise your time (e.g. outreach, drop-ins, support)

5. Safeguarding (Max 100 words)

Is there anything you would like us to know about how you approach safeguarding or safe working?
(This might depend on your work and the communities you support — we’re interested in your practical approach.)

6. Anything else you want us to know (Max 100 words)

Anything else you’d like to share about:

• your approach

• your experience

• why this role matters to you